Good morning, Alex. Could you please tell me a little about yourself?
I joined Cargill in Barcelona in 1995 as a junior trader and moved to Geneva in 2000 as a wheat trader for Europe and the Black Sea. In 2003, I transferred to the bean desk, eventually becoming soybean meal desk head by 2007. In 2010, I moved to corn as desk head, and, in 2014, I became the Business Group Leader in our World Trading Group (WTG).
The WTG sits at the centre of Cargill in terms of agricultural commodity trading. From here, we manage and lead the whole organisation for all our trading in wheat, corn, beans, meal, vegetable oils, palm, and softs. I am effectively the trading manager for Cargill in the agricultural space.
Which of your roles have been the most fun and which have been the most stressful?
Trading is my passion, so I have enjoyed all my roles. I had the most fun as a desk-head, a job which is 120 per cent focused on trading. Wheat is my favourite commodity because of the different countries and qualities involved and because it switches quickly between deficit and surplus. You must be agile to trade wheat. It usually has the highest volatility of all Agri commodities, which means it gives you plenty of opportunities throughout the year. My second favourite is vegetable oil, again because of its optionality and trading opportunities.
Physical defaults are the most stressful part of my job. The most difficult ones to predict are usually politically driven, like when there is regime change in a country or a financial or forex turmoil that results in commodity defaults. The stressful part is that our jobs turn into limiting losses instead of capturing opportunities; it is like playing to tie instead of to win.
The agricultural supply chains have shown resilience during the recent pandemic. How do you explain that resilience?
Agricultural supply chains are efficient and flexible. Our business is not a high margin one, and we constantly strive to keep costs down. We must be efficient to be successful and adapt to changing environments. COVID was unique, but we have had other unusual events over my career and had to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
The second point is that our sector is not labour intensive – crushing plants and feed mills do not require a large labour force to operate. Many agricultural workers spend most of their time outside, whether on a farm or an elevator; they do not work in offices where people sit close together. As for our offices, we operated from home right from the beginning of the pandemic. At one point, we had 60,000 Cargill people working from home, and things went perfectly.
We tend to say that Cargill shines when things get tough. It happened in 2008, and it happened again in 2020. Challenges drive us. Resilience is in our DNA.
Agricultural commodity pricing has become more transparent, but Cargill has continued to operate profitably. What is the secret?
I must be careful not to reveal all our secrets, but part of our success results from our ability to reinvent ourselves constantly. Being a private company makes this easier. It allows us to have more of a long-term view than some of our competitors and to pay less attention to short-term results.
Agricultural commodity prices are cyclical. Trading companies tend to downsize in quiet times, reducing investments in data, analytics, and infrastructure. We do the opposite. Margins shrunk in the flat markets from 2014 to 2018, and it was tough to make money as a trader in low volatile and oversupplied markets. We used that period to invest in data, analytics, systems, and people. When the tide changed, we were ready to take advantage of the opportunities that appeared. There is only a narrow spread between excellence and doing average in quiet markets. When things get more exciting and volatile, that spread widens considerably.
We have three further advantages when it comes to trading.
First, Cargill is present in most geographies and is all along the food supply chain. We have data that goes from the farm to the fork. Second, we have long experience successfully developing trading talent and knowledge of agricultural markets. Third, we have invested heavily in new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning. Combining those three elements – data, top trading talent, and technology – gives you a winning combination.
Do you envisage a day when agricultural supply chains no longer need intermediaries?
I don’t like the word intermediary. We are not intermediaries. We don’t just buy something and try to sell it at a profit. We originate, transport and process agricultural commodities. We operate silos, warehouses, port elevators, ships, and factories, and we add value at every stage of the supply chain.
What advice would you give to someone starting in the business?
First, I would ask them to enjoy what they do. They need to be true to themselves. Do you love the job or not? There is no middle pathway in trading. Trading attracts people because of the excitement and the financial rewards, but you quickly discover whether you love it or hate it once you are there. You need to love it. It is an intense and challenging job, so you better enjoy it!
Second, I would advise a recruit never to stop learning! You will be quickly left behind if you stop learning. You can quickly go from excellence to obsolescence.
Third, I would tell a recruit to stay humble. A big ego is the enemy of many traders. There is nothing to gain from having a big ego. The best traders that I have seen in my career have been humble.
Thank you, Alex, for your time and comments!
This is a short extract from Commodity Crops & The Merchants Who Trade Them available on Amazon.
© Commodity Conversations ® 2022
